Harbeth Super HL5 plus Break-in

noromance,

When you say "What's up with the speakers?" do you mean my other posts about the Spendor D9 & Focal Kanta comparisons to the Harbeth 5's or something else? Please clarify.
By the way, I am going thru a "thing" trying to find the right speaker that turns me on while being analytical at the same time. It can be frustrating at times but I am not unhappy.

avanti1960,

You responded to my Spendor D7 vs. Harbeth SLH5+ discussion. Thanks for returning. At right around the 100 hour mark of burn-in with my new Harbeth's I was going to give up and put them up for sale because I wasn't hearing any improvement. I didn't like the sound at all. Too soft sounding and thumpy overall with my CJ tube amp. Now at approx. 150 hours I am experiencing what others have spoke & written about them. There is definitely an increase in the musicality of the sound, the bass has tightened up and the overall texture and tone is more to my liking. There definitely is more sparkle. I did try to toe in a little bit but returned them to their original angle which is more toed out like I do with all of my speakers. I get a sharper center stage. I cannot pull them out more than 24" rom the front wall. I am hoping for more improvement but am not sold on them just yet. I am fussy an am always looking for more refinement but don't want to spend too much. Impossible I know. I am considering moving to Magnepan 3.7i with twin woofers. I owned the MG-IIIa Maggies for 18 years before selling. Also, Devore Fidelity looks interesting. For now, I will keep listening to the Harbeth's and hopefully keep hearing improvements. Maybe I'll actually keep them for awhile (Don't bet on it). Thanks for your input, as always!

avanti1960,
I am listening with the grilles off.

noromance,
I am using Skylan stands, 18" high. They are spiked to carpet and foam attached to concrete floor. My mistake- They are 28" from wall to back of speaker, 40" from wall to front of speaker.

Imnop.

"I don't think they'd ever be my one and only speaker but I do enjoy having them in the rotation"

Profound statement! In this crazy hobby where the listener (me) is analytical and can find fault with anything that statement is a wake up call for me. Why didn't I see it that way before? Ultimately, does there necessarily have to be a one and only? So with that said how many pairs of speakers do you rotate in and out? What speakers are they?

avanti1960,

I use the Harbeths with the grilles off as I do with all my speakers. I know what you mean when you speak of the warmth of the cabinet. It is something I'm not familiar with because of the bamboo cabinets of my Ascend Sierra towers. As mentioned before more hours of break-in are piling up and as that is happening they are tightening up. One thing I did notice is that I have to turn up the volume because of the lower sensitivity. I can rock out and the speaker does not lose its composure. This is one thing that pleases me and will give me the patience to stick with them in the near future. I will always want a little tighter overall sound but the Ascends are leaner in the midrange and the Harbeths more than cover that aspect with a more pleasing fuller sound with vocals, etc.

donjr,

I am using the Skylan 18" stands with the columns unfilled.